1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a single or multi-piece closure for a rigid or deformable container, in which contents have been sealed.
2. Description of Prior Art
Containers of several types with closures are known in the packaging industry, in which the contents are sealed. These may be bottles or canisters with a neck sealed by a foil, tubes with sealed tops or bonded bags in which the contents are kept under seal. Prior to metering out the contents of such containers by way of the closure, the seal must be broken. In some cases it is first required to remove the closure, then to break the foil and to replace the closure. In others, the cap of the closure first has to be opened and the foil located underneath has to be pierced through the outlet.
More recent embodiments recite closures with piercing elements positioned on the closure. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,449 discloses a closure with a piercing element, where the closure is maintained in an upper security position prior to a first opening of the foil and can only be pushed into a lower use position after a security band has been removed, the seal being destroyed simultaneously. Furthermore, a plastic closure described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,399, has a separately actuable piercing element next to the pouring opening. While the structurally simple closures are user-friendly, the user-friendly new closures are relatively complicated in a structural sense and correspondingly expensive.